Marcus Minucius Augurinus
| Marcus Minucius Augurinus | |
|---|---|
| Consul of the Roman Republic | 497 BC |
| Consul of the Roman Republic | 491 BC |
Marcus Minucius Augurinus (Latin, Marcus Minucius Augurinus ) was a Roman Republican politician of the patrician gens Minucia during the beginning of the 5th century BC. He served as Consul of Rome in 497 BC and 491 BC, both times serving together with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus.
Family Origins
Although the Minucia gens has been traditionally known as a plebeian family, the family's origins are indeed of the patrician class and it is from that branch of the family from which Minucius Augurinus is descended.
He was the brother of Publius Minucius Augurinus, who later served as consul in 492 BC.
Biography
Minucius Augurinus was the first of his gens to become a Roman consul, serving in the years 497 BC and 491 BC respectively. On both occasions, he served together with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus. During his first tenure as consul, he was charged with the consecration of the newly constructed Temple of Saturn in the Roman forum. It was during this consulship that the festivities surrounding Saturnalia first began.[1][2]
He was again elected consul for 491 BC. There had been a famine in Rome in the previous year, and in 491 BC a significant quantity of corn was imported from Sicily, and the question of how it should be distributed amongst the Roman citizens, together with tensions arising from the recent secession of the plebs, led to the exile and defection of Gaius Marcius Coriolanus after he unsuccessfully advocated the reversal of the reforms which arose from the secession, including the creation of the office of the tribunes.[3] Dionysius of Halicarnassus gives credit to Minucius as having been the speaker at the trial of Coriolanus, acting as Coriolanus' defender and also as the mitigatory ambassador sent to the Volsci camp commanded by the same Coriolanus in 488 BC.
See also
- List of Roman Republican consuls
- Roman Republic
- Minucia (gens)
| Preceded by Quintus Cloelius Siculus and Titus Lartius |
Consul of the Roman Republic with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus 497 BC |
Succeeded by Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis and Titus Verginius Tricostus Caelimontanus |
| Preceded by Titus Geganius Macerinus and Publius Minucius Augurinus |
Consul of the Roman Republic with Aulus Sempronius Atratinus 491 BC |
Succeeded by Quintus Sulpicius Camerinus Cornutus and Spurius Lartius |
References
- ↑ Titus Livius, Historia romana, libro II, 21
- ↑ Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Historia Antigua de Roma, book VI, 1
- ↑ Livy, Ab urbe condita, 2.34